All I ever needed
by potterbite
Summary: How I want 3x06 and future episodes to play out. Romance, adventure, little angst, alot of Emma and alot of Killian.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: HEY. So glad so many of you like this... It was honestly just supposed to be a one shot about how imagined it going down after Emma and Killian's kiss, but after the good response I got, I had an idea for something more. I have not written anything on it yet and I have an exam on tuesday, but I will try to get it done before the weekend. ENJOY my fellow shipmates. **

* * *

Hook doesn't move for a while after Pan leaves – maybe for hours, maybe minutes. How is it even possible that Bealfi-, _no Neal_, is still alive? Had Emma not seen him die?

When his thoughts brush past Emma, his hand lifts up to his lips in an unconscious gesture. He can still feel her there, taste her.

Well, if it's one thing that's for sure it's that he isn't about to let some psychotic child be right about him; he will tell Emma and the others that Neal is alive and in Neverland and he will tell them before Pan gets a chance to beat him to it. He gets up to join the group with his news.

* * *

Emma sees him coming to their campsite and she's glad he waited more than those 5 minutes she asked for. His soft and shocked voice saying _"That was…" _still lingers in Emma's mind. She have an idea of what he was about to say. _That was_… amazing, earthshattering, shocking and probably one of her top 5 moments in her entire life. This is why she had to leave, of course. It was too many intense feelings being thrown at her at once, making her walls press her even more tightly and making it harder to breathe. If she was looking at it on the bright side, Hook didn't die like Graham did when he kissed her. She didn't think she would survive history repeating itself.

Emma has never been shy about these things and has no intentions to start now, so she walks up to Hook intending to tell him it _really was_ just a onetime thing she did because he dared her to.

"Hook, I –"

"Not now, Swan. I just had a chat with our favorite little boy Pan. Oi! Mates, get over here", he yells to Snow, David and Regina. They walk up to him and Emma, a question in their eyes.

"I just had a chat with Pan", _again _he finishes in his head while he locks eyes with Charming. "He told me something quite interesting. Bael- Neal is alive and apparently he is currently here in Neverland, captured by Pan." Hook says it all in a kind of rush, managing to sound both happy and broken at the same time. He doesn't dare to look at anyone, so instead he takes up his flask and have a mouthful of rum. It tastes horrible, making him think of Emma and her lips against his, so he puts it back on his belt. Regina is the first one to say anything.

"Why would we believe him? Maybe it's just another one of his mind tricks and I'm getting real sick of it." Her voice sounds like poison and disgust.

"You don't know Pan like I do. He doesn't do lies. He loves his mind tricks, but he always make sure to tell the absolute truth. He does leave out details for his own amusement, but if he says he has captured an alive Neal, he has." Hook sighs – his eyes still haven't left the ground.

"So why tell us? What does he get out of this?" Charming wonders. Hook can feel his eyes burning on him so he looks up.

"You know why and you know why now", he says so quietly it is almost not audible above the wind rustling the trees around them. "Emma, how do you want to play this out? Go after Bae- Neal and then Henry or the other way around?" he asks in a louder voice, his eyes not meeting hers.

"I don't – " she begins in a strangled voice, but it is Regina who takes command.

"Here's how we're gonna do this. I go after Pan and Henry, while the four of you go find Neal. We need Neal if we are ever going to get of this damn island."

"Regina, you can't seriously be thinking about leaving alone, what if something happen to you and Henry and we have no way to find you", Snow says with a affection in her voice.

"Oh please, like any of you care what happens to me. You just want Henry, as do I, which is why we're going to do it this way. Unless our Savior has any other ideas?" she asks Emma, voice deep with sarcasm. Emma just shakes her head, and Regina leaves without any more words being said.

* * *

"Emma, has something happened?" Snow wonders later when they are walking alone, a couple of feet behind Hook and Charming. "I mean, other than Neal being alive. I thought you were a bit odd even before."

Emma can see how Hook angles his head a little bit to make sure he hears Emma's reply. _That cocky ass_, she thinks while a smile wants to spread on her lips. She presses them into a thin line, refusing to let him see how all of this has shaken her. "No, nothing at all", she answers with a poker face. "Everything is fine, I promise."

However, as she says the word _fine_ she can feel a tight pressure on her chest and she has to suck in a breath as it's suddenly hard to breathe again. A lump in her throat has formed, threatening to release all sorts of emotions if she doesn't get a grip.

"Emma, I may not have raised you but I am your mother and I can tell you're not fine", Snow says with a concerned voice. She reaches out for Emma's arm to comfort her but Emma quickly jerks her arm away. Charming and Hook, having stopped just 2 feet away when Emma and Snow stopped walking, watches them quietly before Charming walks up to his wife and daughter when he sees Emma pulling away.

"Hey, what's going on?" he asks with a warm voice and a small smile.

"GOD, why do you guys always have to be so GOOD and PERFECT and CONCERNED for everyone all the time?!" she says with a tone as if those are the most awful insults she can give them. "You were even concerned for Regina, Mary Margret, and that woman tried to kill you not once but COUNTLESS times!" Emma can feel her chest getting tighter and tighter with every breath, tears only seconds away, so she turns around and starts walking. "Give me a couple of minutes, will you", she adds in a strangled voice because she knows either Mary Margret or David will want to follow her. When she is finally alone she leans up against a tree, starts to hyperventilate and the tears escape her closed eyes.

* * *

Hook can hear her sobs when he gets close but it is not until he's standing right in front of her that he realize she is hyperventilating.

"You need to breathe calmer, lass, otherwise you'll pass out", he says without moving any closer to her. She clearly can't do this because her breathing only gets harder when he speaks. Without thinking, he closes the distance between them and pick up her head with his hand under her chin. Her face is only inches apart from his, noses almost grazing.

"Hey, Emma love, please look at me." He watches her tears stop running down her face, just a few left that lands on her already wet eyelashes. Her breathing doesn't calm down but when she opens her eyes it's like someone hit him over the head because _God she's beautiful_. She gives him a look – sorrow? He can't tell – and he lets out all the air from his lungs to make her do the same. "Come on love, take a really deep breath for me, can you do that?"

She watches him and in the midst of her panic she feels a calmness spreading through her body. She manages to inhale deeply and is further calmed when all she can smell is _him_; rum, sweat and just Hook.

* * *

"So, um, thanks for that back there." Emma sounds so small, so innocent, when she says it that Hook can't help but smile.  
"No worries, love. You can thank me later", he says with a wink at her, grinning even wider when her jaw drops. He walks away from her then, letting her walk with her parents.

"Sorry for my outburst", she says with an apologetic look at both David and Mary Margret. They stop to listen to her. "Sometimes I just get too many feelings at once and when that happens I need to be alone because that's how it's always been. I can't handle someone wanting to comfort me, and that's my problem and clearly something I need to work with…. So, yeah. That's how it is", she finishes awkwardly when neither Mary Margret nor David says anything. After a couple of seconds of suspense, they both smile. "How is me apologizing anything to smile about?" she asks them, and their smiles grow wider.

"You see, since we didn't get to raise you we didn't get to have any teenage-arguments with you, so it's nice when we get to have family moments like these", Snow explains. Emma doesn't have anything to say about that so she just gives them a small smile of appreciation.

"Killian! How far until we reach the place where Pan keeps Neal?" Emma shouts at him as he's quite a bit ahead of them. He turns around to look at her and walk towards them, eyes a little bit wider than usual and filled with shock. Snow and Charming just stands there, looking just as surprised. That's when she realizes what she did, what she called him, making this kind of a big deal. Emma hates big deals, so she ignores them all. "Hello? I'm talking to you?" she says, waving her hand in front of his face as if checking to see if he's alive. He smirks and understands her, just as he always does.

"Impatient lass, aren't we?" And that's the feeling he can't shake. The one of Emma being impatient to see Neal and run happy into his arms, forgetting all about some silly pirate with just one hand. Because in all honesty, who is he compared to the love of her life? Just someone friendly enough to help save her son. Hook does not let any of this shine through though, and cover up all his feelings with a lame wink. "It's just up ahead."

* * *

"Neal! You up there?" Emma shouts as she looks at the two cages hung above their heads. They hear a grunting yes and Emma feels relief wash over her – Henry will still have his father. She looks over to Hook with a plea in her eyes for him to get the cages down. A small sigh escape his lips as he walks toward the tree – he needs to climb it in order to reach the rope that holds up the cages. He is stopped by a hand.

"I can do it, mate", Charming says, no sarcasm in his voice when he uses the word mate like there were the last time he said it. Hook looks at him gratefully; there are not many things Hook cannot do but climbing a tree with one hand is indeed a lot of work. Then he remembers the beanstalk with Emma and stops Charming.  
"We'll do it together David", feeling for the first time in a very long time that he does finally belong somewhere, that he does have friends.

They slowly lower the cages to the ground with Emma and Snow helping them the last part. Emma is the one who opens the cage Neal is in and greets him with a hug and a smile.

"Neal, I'm so glad you're alive." Hook can hear the relief in her voice from all the way over where he's standing, making a knot in his stomach.

"And I'm glad to be alive", Neal laughs. Hook has to look away because he really wants Emma to be happy; he just wishes that was with him. He can hear Neal being greeted by Snow and Charming, everyone chatting happily. Hook leaves because he really doesn't want to destroy a family moment.

* * *

"About that thing right before I died –", Neal begins before Emma stops him with a hand in the air.

"Neal, I honestly do love you but not in any romantic way", she says quickly. "I just… I'll never stop loving you, you were my first love. But I can never trust you romantically again." She looks directly at him, not knowing what he's going to respond to this.

"I understand", he says, shocking her. "I love you too, probably more in a romantic way but I won't pressure you. "

"Look at you Neal, being all grown-up" Emma smirks at him before turning serious again. "Just so you don't get your hopes up, I won't change my mind." Neal looks at her intently for a while, without saying anything. Then he smiles a sad smile.

"There's someone else, huh?"

* * *

"You know, I really missed you Hook", a voice says behind him, making him jump.

"Baelfire", Hook says in a warm voice, arms extended towards Neal. "I'm so glad you're alive." He pulls Neal in for a hug, genuinely glad to see that he's ok. Neal hugs him back without hesitation.

"It's been a while. You seem different", Neal says while he looks at him as if trying to see what it is that's changed.

"I feel different. Not so sad, not so angry. Must be working with Snow White and Prince Charming that's rubbing off on me", Hook manages to say with a grin, while also sounding like he doesn't really believe it's because of Snow and Charming.

"You know, I never really saw you as the villain you were supposed to be", Neal answers and takes him in for another hug. Hook smiles.

"Good to have you back, lad."

"So, I hear you're stealing my girl", Neal says after a while with laughter in his voice. Hook pulls away to look at him, his brows furrowing clearly not understanding anything. "No hard feelings, just promise me you'll take good care of her", he continues with a pat on Hooks shoulder before he walks away, leaving Hook looking dumbfounded.

* * *

He finally finds Emma gathering firewood a couple of minutes later.

"I thought I gathered more than enough last night", he says, startling her. She turns around to look at him, so many questions in her eyes. "I talked to Baelfire."

"Oh", is all Emma says, understanding exactly one of the things they had talked about. "I thought you knew", she says without meeting his eyes.

"Knew that you love Neal? Aye, that I do. Which is why I'm even more confused about my conversation with Ba-Neal", he explains. She puts down the firewood on the ground and steps closer to him, letting him inside her personal space.

"Yes, that I love him but also that I don't love him in any romantic kind of way", she says, her voice almost a whisper. "Okay, so here's the deal. The last man I kissed was a very kind man. He was a huntsman in the enchanted forest, sent out to kill Snow Wh-… my mother, but decided to let her go and instead give up his own life. In Storybrooke he was the Sheriff. We kissed, and it was sweet and wonderful. Then he died seconds later in my arms." In an unconscious gesture, she had wrapped her arms around herself while she was talking, as if to protect or shield. Hook reaches forward and wipes a tear of her cheek with his thumb.

"Just like Milah did", he says with a sad smile. She nods.

"Then there you were, and you dared me to kiss you and I thought it would be fun and it wasn't", she continues. "It was too many raw emotions being thrown at me at once. I was wrong; I was the one who couldn't handle it." She sighs and gives him a rare smile. Hook feels something in his chest and recognizes it as hope. He can't hold back a grin as he leans forward, stopping only a few inches away from her face.

"Then you won't be able to handle this either", he murmurs in her ear before lightly kissing her on the cheek. She looks taken aback by this, to Hooks amusement. "What, did you expect something else?" he says cockily. She feels his breath on her face and while she really wants to respond something witty she forgets it all. She leans in slowly before finally pressing her lips against his. No, this wasn't a onetime thing at all.

* * *

Hook, Emma and Neal join the Charming's at the same time. Neal looks over at the other cage and sees that they haven't opened it.

"Why the hell haven't you let her out yet?" he asks them, obviously upset by this.

"We weren't sure… It could be anyone in there. Do you know who it is?" Snow asks him carefully.

"No, I just know that it's a woman who's been here for a while. Let's let her out." He takes Emma's knife as he walks past her and walks toward the other cage.

Hook joins Emma on her left and she takes his hand. She squeezes hard before intertwining her fingers with his, letting him know she's not going anywhere.

The other cage opens up and a woman steps out. Neal gasps.

"Wendy?!"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys. So here's the second part. I have finished a first draft, I'm thinking this is going to be about 4 chapters but I'll see. I have an exam on tuesday so I'm not sure when the next part will be up. ALSO, I was not comfortable at all writing in present tense as I did for the first chapter, which is why I changed to past tense. Hope you guys enjoy this part as well!**

* * *

"How… when… who…", Neal stuttered helplessly while he stared at a grown up Wendy Darling. The other four companions were at loss what to say as well, just staring at the woman in front of them, not sure how to interact.

"Who are you?" she asked with an insecure voice, eyeing him through thin eyes. Neal gave a shrug and sighed.

"It's me, Baelfire."

Her hand flew up to her mouth as she obviously recognized him. "How is this even possible?"

"You're asking me… How can we be the same age? It's been, what, almost 100 years since we last saw each other?" He looked around at the others, meeting Hook's eyes. "Do you understand this?"

"Well, um to tell you the truth lad, I –", Hook began but was interrupted at Wendy's squeal of happiness, making everyone jump.  
"Killian!" she cried out and ran straight into his arms and Hook, being taken aback, almost fell over. "What are you doing back here? I heard you escaped some years ago."

Hook looked at her, remembering the time they shared together. He was trying to wrap his head around it all - how she was connected to Baelfire, how Baelfire was connected to him - and met Emma's eyes. She had a deep frown, arms crossed over her chest and were clearly not enjoying the situation – Hook had to bite his lip until it bled to keep himself from smiling like an idiot when he realized Emma was jealous.

"Aye, I did leave."

"Then why on earth would you ever return to this awful place?" she asked, looking at him like he was a complete and utter moron. He probably was though, him not ever being able to think clearly when Emma was around. An awkward silence settled among the group, everyone knowing the answer to Wendy's question but nobody brave enough to say it out loud.

"I have my reasons", Hook simply stated.

"OK, sorry to cut in but I have to ask. How the hell did you get here, Wendy? I thought me sacrificing myself helped", Neal said, not being able to hide his pride at his actions. Had Hook not been looking at Emma at that precise moment, he would've missed it; a flash of raw sadness washed upon her face at Neal's words. Hook took her hand in his and gave it a little squeeze to make sure she was ok. She did not squeeze back, but did however start to run her thumb up and down on his hand.

"I… Peter caught me", Wendy said in a desperate voice. "He has Michael and John as well." She looked broken, sad, while she stood there in nothing but her nightgown looking down at the ground. "But they're still children; he caught them when they were only 15 and 17 years old. For some reason Peter came back for me 11 years later."

If they had been in a cartoon, Neal's chin would've been touching the ground out of mere shock. "But when I saw all the lost boys… I thought I recognized one of them, his eyes though… they were so cold." He shuddered at the memory.

"Yeah well mate, that's what about 100 years of Neverland and Pan does to you", Hook interfered with a sour voice.

"I'm not – ", Neal began.

"Aye, it only applies to normal people", Hook said with a wink at Neal. Everyone was silent for a split second, looking from Hook to Neal, before they all burst out laughing; there in the middle of a dark forest in Neverland, with no sight of Henry or a way to ever get of the island, they laughed until their eyes got wet, forgetting, if only for a moment, where they were and why. Hook smiled, never having felt such camaraderie before, not even with his crew for hundreds of years. He liked it.

* * *

"So, what's the plan again?" Neal asked Emma with a skeptical voice.

"C'mon, it's going to work. If we're ever going to get of this damn island we need work as a team – " Emma began arguing with him.

"Her plans always work out the way she wants them to. Now I suggest we keep on moving before Pan catches us and all this is uncalled for", Hook interrupted, giving Neal a stern look. Neal shrugged and followed Wendy, Snow and David, leaving Hook and Emma alone.

"I don't like it when he's acting in such a demeaning manner", he explained before she got the chance to say anything. She nodded.

"He can't help it, it's his defense when he doesn't know how to act", she said, not looking at him. "And I don't need anyone to fight my battles for me, Hoo- Killian." He couldn't hold back a smile.

"Aye, I got that. Still doesn't make it ok, lass." She looked as if she were about to argue with him, but probably deciding against it, she just thanked him.

* * *

After you kiss somebody, there is an unnamed time limit of how much time can pass while the kiss is left unspoken. For Emma, she felt like her time limit was about 5 days because at the 6th day after their short and tender kiss the day Neal was found, she couldn't even look at Hook without feeling color rising to her cheeks. Hook didn't look like he shared this though, because he continued to look as smug as he always did whenever she met his eyes. Lucky for Emma, she knew Hook by now and knew when he had his walls up.

"Hook", she called after him one afternoon while they were searching for a way to find some fairy dust – they guessed that was their best shot at ever leaving Neverland. He stopped and turned around to look at her. _Damn, she had forgotten how blue his eyes were up close_.

"Milady?" he said in a respectful tone, managing to hold back a grin. Emma gave him a look that said, cut it off or I'm cutting something off of you. He quickly got up from his bow – _the man bowed! Why did that make her feel giddy when she should think it was ridiculous?_ – when he saw her look.

"We need to talk about… well… that thing a couple of nights ago."

"That thing? What thing?" he asked innocently, trying to act like he had no idea what she was talking about. And Emma knew he did it because he was trying to make her say it even though he knew it made her uncomfortable to talk about. She squirmed where she stood.

"Oh no you don't buddy. I brought it up, you know what I'm talking about and – " Suddenly there was a rustle in the trees right behind them and they both turned around, weapons raised. Emma couldn't help but notice how Hook angled himself so he stood just a little bit in front of her, but not so much in front of her that she would complain or notice – or so he thought.

"Cut it out", she said in a grumpy voice of a child. "I can take care of myself."

"As you wish." Emma's head turned so fast in Hook's direction, it looked like she got a whiplash. However, she didn't get a chance to say anything because Regina and Rumpelstiltskin emerged from the bushes at that moment, deeply engaged in an argument.

"What the hell Regina? Where's Henry?!" Emma burst out while she hung her sword on her back again, making both Regina and Rumpelstiltskin jump.

"Well, well. Fancy running into the two of you here, all alone", she said, dragging out the word alone. "What did you do with the others? Kill them off?" she sneered while talking; sounding hopeful that Snow and David might not actually be alive.

"Well, you obviously spent too much time with Gold already, Regina. Now, why isn't Henry with you as you promised?" Hook noticed how she couldn't stand still, always moving a hand, her foot, her shoulder but he couldn't figure out if it was Regina and Rumpelstiltskin making her nervous, or if it was him. He hoped for the latter.

Pan is clever, I might have underestimated him", Regina responded with dignity in her voice.

"And what about you, Gold? What's your excuse?"

"SHE", he said while pointing a crooked finger at Regina, "got in my way, dearie." He tried to smile at her but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Ok, well… that's disappointing. We'll go to the others and try to figure out a new plan. We found Neal, and his friend Wendy", Emma said, making Gold lit up at Neal's name. She didn't sound quite happy about Wendy being with them, but Hook imagined that was because she and Neal seemed rather close.

* * *

The rescue party – Operation Henry as Regina had named it – decided to set camp for the night within proximity of Pan's encampment, which Gold had managed to locate. They hoped for a surprise attack before any of the Lost boys had any time to react. They were going to go in, get Henry, get out and run like hell; it was a great plan except for the fact that they still didn't know how to leave. Everyone knew it but nobody brought up the inevitable, waiting for a miracle.

* * *

"What? No, I don't want to go anywhere." Everyone went still at Henry's announcement, Emma and Regina's faces draining of all color.

"Bloody hell, he got to him", Hook muttered to Neal. Emma heard him though.

"What do you mean?"

"Look the lad in his eyes. What do you see?" Hook pointed to Henry, who just stood there looking so calm it was almost scary.

"What? I don- " Emma began, but as she met Henry's eyes she saw what Hook meant. Henry has the same look as Emma, as Hook, and as all the other Lost boys in Neverland. "What do we do?" She reeled around to the rest, moving away from Henry.

"We need to convince him otherwise", Wendy simply stated. "Talk to him."

Emma stared at Wendy, not being able to move. It was sheer luck they had gotten Henry and they were losing valuable time every second Henry refused to go with them – time they would need if they were to leave the island without Pan catching them. She looked desperately at Regina, who sighed heavily.

"Oh for heaven's sake. Henry, come with us now. You are not an orphan; we're all here for you!" She took his shoulders as she spoke, shaking him lightly as if to make him listen better. He did not even dignify her with an answer. Emma went up to the pair and crouched down to Henry's level.

"Kid, c'mon. You have all of us here, wanting nothing more than to bring you home."

"Home? This is my home now", he exclaimed happily. The smile he gave them looked off; he looked crazy. Hook looked around, sighing inwardly while walking up to Henry, Emma and Regina.

"Mind if I give it a go?" The women looked at him like _he_ was the crazy one, but they backed away, letting Hook and Henry have some space. He sat down a knee in front of Henry while he left the other one in a ninety degree angle.

"Hey lad, I'm Killian", he began but when he saw Henry's eyes drift to his hook, he continued, "but you may call me Hook if you like. So, you like it here?" Henry nodded eagerly. "Aye, I get that. It sure is great to be left alone sometimes."

Henry was looking intently at Hook, as is he were a sponge sucking in every word. "It is."

Hook gave a slight nod at this. "Aye, couldn't agree with you more lass. But you know, after some time, it gets rather lonely. Take it from me", he said with sadness in his voice. Henry didn't look convinced.

"The thing is, though, I never had anyone to fight for me. I never had anyone love me except my brother who died on this very island a couple of hundreds of years ago. I never had enough people in my life to put together as one whole parent, but here you are with two mothers who would give up their life for you, one father, a grandmother and two grandfathers, all here because they love you and wish to take you home. Do you know how lucky that makes you, lass?"

He felt his voice grow a bit thick with emotions, never having talked about such things before, never having said them out loud to any living soul. He swallowed hard, looking Henry in the eyes – it was like a whole other little boy looking back at him, eyes filled with hope and love. Killian smiled at him.

"Thank you, Killian", he said, not hesitating on which name he should use for him. "I'm ready to go now guys!" he called back at the rest of their group, making Killian turn around to face six stunned faces. He got up from the ground and – while pushing Henry in front of him as a sort of shield – walked back the few steps to join the others. Nobody said anything and the only sound being heard was that of Henry being hugged by his entire family.

"Shall we then?" Killian said after a few more moments of silence. Snow looked at him with such pity, he could almost feel himself shrink down to avoid her gaze. It was Charming that saved him.

"Lets! Anyone have an idea of how to leave Neverland before Pan catches us?"

"Tinker Bell of course", said Henry as if it were the most obvious thing in the entire world.

"Her magic's gone, kid", Emma told him. He shook his head.

"Nah-ah. Not with the truest believe right here", he explain while pointing at himself with a wide grin. "I can get her magic back and she can take us home."

"Well, then let's go find her then", she said, obviously not convinced but afraid to disagree with him in case he decided to change his mind again.

"Yay, Tinker Bell", Regina muttered bitterly as they started for Tink's house.

Killian stayed back, hoping to get some space. He had no such luck, as Emma walked back to the clearing.

"I – uh, forgot my sword", she said lamely before realizing it was on her back. Hook smirked.

"Aye, I can see that. Anything else, lass?"

"No. Nothing at all", she said, not moving. He walked up to her, invading her personal space again. They began a staring contest in silent, Emma having real difficulties not looking away at Killian's smoldering looks. He was doing it on purpose, of course, and it annoyed her that she found him to be so irresistible. Killian was the first one to move away, forcing Emma away from her thoughts.

"No! Don't go. I just wanted to…. To say I'm sorry about how sad your life has been." He lifted an eyebrow looking at her, knowing what she meant even if she explained it wrong.

"Thank you", he said in a guarded voice. He didn't feel like talking about it and he'd be damned if he got Emma's _pity _of all things. He wanted her to have and feel many different emotions for him, but pity was not one of them.

That's when she reached forward and gave him his first hug since before Milah died. Emma ached for Killian's sake, and she wanted him to feel he wasn't so alone anymore. She hugged him hard, before doing a one-eighty, following the rest of the gang. Killian was left alone, speechless and frozen in place, while also touched by Emma's obvious attempt at supporting him. The absence of human warmth would be even harder to survive now that he had experienced it after hundreds of years without it – yes, there'd been an occasional woman here and there, but they were all fleeting and had none of the warmth a friend or a lover would have – and he prayed and hoped he would never have to endure being alone again.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: HEY! So, in the honor of Sunday night's most amazing OUAT-episode ever (I keep thinking after every episode, "how are they ever going to top that?!" and they just do, every week!) I felt inspired to update this. I am having a hard time to erase Killian's wonderful speech in the episode and I am just amazed at how the writers keep on writing episodes BETTER than any ff-writer could ever imagine. Dreams come true every Sunday.  
With that said, I hope you enjoy this chapter even though it's now officially not happening this way. :) ****This is also they last chapter, as I feel I have no desire to drag this story out, because let's face it; the OUAT-writers are doing thrice the work any writer could ever make up, and I just really want to leave this story where it is. I am however going to post other stories. So please follow/favorite me if you want to keep reading my stuff! :)**

* * *

Finding Tinker Bell proved harder than they had first thought with her never staying in one place longer than a day. But seeing as both Killian and Neal knew their way around the island, the search went a bit faster than it would have without them; it took them three days to find her and less than an hour for Henry to convince her he believed in her. Emma exchanged a proud smile with Regina – which she stiffly responded with equal love of a mother – before looking over to Neal, hoping he would feel proud as well. He stood a bit away from the others, entranced in a story Wendy was telling. Emma felt a pang of sadness wash over her, realizing he never looked at her the same way he did Wendy. She had to leave.

* * *

"You want to talk about it, Emma?" a voice came from behind her, startling her. Of course he would be here, of course he would come when she was in a bad mood; he always did.

"No, I –" she began, but stopped to scowl at Killian who held up a finger, waving it back and forth as if she were some child that had done something wrong, while clicking his tongue in the same beat. "What?!"

"Lying doesn't look good on you, lass." Emma sighed at him, tired of him reading her like an open book. Sometimes you just wanted to keep your feelings to yourself, and close off from the world with only your own thoughts to keep you company. Funny enough, this really weren't one of those times Emma realized as soon as she opened her mouth to talk.

"I… It's Neal", she began carefully, not missing his jaw clenching.

"Aye, what about the lad?" he answered in a strained voice, clearly trying to listen to what she had to say, managing to make Emma feel like she really could tell him anything because he wouldn't walk away even if he didn't want to hear what she had to say.

"It's just something he said to Wendy the day we found them. It's been gnawing in me", she replied, biting her lip absentmindedly. She continued without waiting for him to say anything because there really weren't anything to say yet. "He said… what I understood from what I heard; he sacrificed himself for her all those years ago." She cleared her throat, not comfortable with the wave of emotions threating to unleash itself upon her at any moment. Killian looked confused.

"Aye, that he did. What about it?"

"He… he actually…. I…", Emma was able to say before drowning her sadness and covering it with an instant anger, not wanting to shed another tear over her past with Neal. "That self-righteous son-of-a-bitch, no offense to Milah. I can't believe this. How… I can't even…." She walked in small circles in front of a speechless Killian.

"You're not making sense, love. What are you on about?"

"NEAL!" she bellowed, shocking Killian even more. "All those years, thinking he abandoned me to rot in prison. Then I found out he, supposedly, walked away for my own good, because I had some big destiny as the Savior. So I think, hey that sounds like a big pile of trash, but maybe he doesn't know how to put someone else first. Then I found out he CAN sacrifice himself, thinking of someone else before his own gigantic ego!" All this came out in a rant and Killian had to try his best to keep up. He watched as she took a deep breath trying to calm herself and she continued in a quieter, calmer voice only a moment later. "So this means it wasn't really his fault that he left. He just didn't love me."

Killian, who has been staring at the ground, snapped his head up in the instant Emma's words left her mouth. She looked so broken, and he had no idea how to erase all her pain but he did know that was what he wanted to do. He reached out for her, but lowered his hand again thinking she probably wanted her space.

"Emma, don't do that. What Neal did was cowardly; much like his father always was a coward. It has nothing to do with if Neal did or didn't love you, but all to do with the fact that Neal was so scared he just ran." He watched her, knowing she probably weren't even listening to him any longer, so his eyes went down to the ground again. He waited to see if she were going to say anything, but after a couple of minutes of silence he decided she probably wanted to be left alone so he started to leave.

"Killian, don't – " she began uncertainly. He turned around to face her, quirking up one of his eyebrow in question. "I want you to understand. I… I will always love Neal and a part of me will always hate myself for that. I appreciate what you said about him, and I think you're partly right. He was – _is_ – a coward, but that doesn't change the fact that he didn't love me enough to make a sacrifice, which makes me loving him for the past 10 years whilst hating him a big waste of my time." She sighed loudly and ran a hand through her hair. She hated feeling vulnerable, least of all because of love. She decided to say something wildly different for them to stop talking about her. "So, you and Wendy, huh?"

The question left her mouth before she even had a chance to think about it. Yes, she had been wondering about that as well the past days, even to the point where she had thought out five different scenarios in which Killian and Wendy knew each other, but none of them pleased Emma as they all involved the pair being romantically linked.

Killian had to laugh at her ridiculous statement and obvious attempt to change the subject. He didn't want to force anything out of her but to let her come to him when she was ready, so he didn't press any further on the subject of Neal.

"Sorry to disappoint you, love, but you have a very dirty mind." He wiggled his eyebrows at her, making her laugh again – _God, had it only been days since he heard her laugh? It felt like years_ – before deciding it was best to be as honest with her as possible if they were ever to have some sort of future. His heart skipped a beat at his thoughts, making him feel… happy. The feeling felt odd and out of place, not having felt it in hundreds of years.

"She was a part of my crew for about 50 years. Great lass, a little bit too naïve. One day she decided to leave and I let her and that's the end of our great story. Sadly for her, it seems her leaving my crew did not work in her favor."

Emma blew out a wide breath; not as if she sighed but as if she had been holding her breath for a long time, only now daring to relax enough to release that breath. Killian didn't dare to read too much into anything, so he tried not to.

* * *

Just as the gang reached the shoreline, they realized someone was following them.  
"Who's there?" Charming asked with his sword raised. Two teenage boys emerged from the jungle, looking frightened.

"Michael! John!" Wendy cried happily, – making the gang say _ahh _in unison as they understood who it was – running towards them before coming to an abrupt halt as she weren't sure how they would react to her hugging them. "What are you doing here?"

The older boy spoke in a raspy voice, much like the voice of someone who hadn't spoken in a very long time. "We would very much like to join you nice people and go home."

"Of course you can come – " Wendy began whilst wrapping her arms around them at the same time. It was Snow who interrupted.

"Hang on, how do we even know this isn't another one of Pan's traps?"

"I… it's not", the younger boy said in a quiet voice. "We heard Captain Hook talking to Henry before." Killian tensed up at the boys words, not wanting him to bring it up to make Killian share more of his past he had no wish to re-live. "We want to go home with you, Wendy," was all he added.

* * *

Once they got aboard the Jolly Rogers, Neal promised he would get them home if someone else could get the ship flying.

"Is everyone ready?" Tink asked, holding the pixie dust in her hand.

"Yes. Let's go to Storybrooke; let's go home", Emma said and squeezed Killian's hand.

* * *

Killian remained on his ship as the rest got off, being greeted happily by the Storybrooke inhabitants. He wasn't sure if they would want him to follow, or to leave them alone; he was after all, in most eyes of the citizens, a villain at heart.

He heard laughter and he heard stories of their adventures in Neverland being told. None of this mattered though because all he really saw was Emma's face, bright amongst the gathering of people. He smiled at himself, because all he ever wanted was for her to be truly happy.

"Are you coming, mate?" a voice interrupted his staring. He shook his head as if to get his thoughts straightened out before talking; it was Charming who had spoken, standing on the pier they had docked the ship at, looking up at Killian.

"Are you sure?" he said, feeling unsure of himself. "I don't want to be a bother to anyone." Charming waved a hand at this, as if it were complete nonsense.

"We explained everything to them. You don't have to be afraid", he said, smirking at Killian. He gave a short laugh, not entirely convincing.

"A captain is never afraid, mate."

Then he saw her, looking straight into his eyes. She lifted her arm as if waiting for him to grab her hand, making his nervousness disappear in an instant. He gave her a brilliant smile before joining Charming on the pier and walking up to the crowd. He could get used to this; he could get used to being happy ever after.

* * *

In Neverland, Peter Pan stood with his gaze directed at the sky. A wicked smile was on his lips when a Lost boy approached him.

"How is it possible they were able to leave, Peter? I thought only you could control that."

"Nobody leaves unless I allow them", was all he replied. "It's now time for the _real_ game to begin."

* * *

**A/N: I just wanted to add that it was a conscious choice of mine to leave out the part where David isn't supposed to be able to leave Neverland. Let's just say, for the sake of the story, that they found a way and that's that. **

**Any reviews? :)**


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